Lost Ramblings...
I don't care what most people are saying, I really liked this episode. I think it's taken things in a slightly different direction and, while some of that redirection was a wee bit clunkier than I'd like it to be (the "easing in" of the new characters on the survivor's side of the island is a bit heavy handed), I'm happy with the it on the whole.
I like having Locke in charge. He seems past his old sneaking around ways--probably because he's in charge and not trying to subvert Jack's power structure--and is back to being his optimistic confident self. His thoughts to go back to The Pearl station and fiddle with the TVs are long over-due, but understandable--what with the whole being blown up and fighting polar bears and stuff.
Eko, who will be greatly missed, had a good end. It was his time. He knew it and the Black Smoke apparently knew it, too. Why it didn't take him the first time he faced and why it smacked him around like a rag-doll this time are very open to theory and interpretation. Maybe it was waiting for him to decide what kind of man he was (a good man or a bad man). Maybe it was just toying with him anyway. Personally, I'm going for the former. When he first faced off with the smoke, he was still quite conflicted about his own life. Sure, he had done horrible things, but he had done them to spare others the taint of that lifestyle. In the end, he accepted that he was not sorry for anything he had done. He believed that he was in the right, no matter how wrong that made him. The Black Smoke? It didn't seem to agree.
One of the most mysterious lines came from the on island exchange between Eko and the form he thought was his brother. As the discussion progressed, it said to him "You talk to me like I'm actually your brother." This begs the question: If it's not a hallucination, then what is it that Eko's seeing? And what does that mean for all the other hallucinations people have had? (Jack's father, Hurley's imaginary friend, etc.) What if it's all part of the security system--if it actually is a security system and not just another testing device.
One of the other questions I've seen come up deals with the goings on in The Pearl hatch. Why, I've seen people ask, did Sayid have to poke around the innards of the machines there to get different pictures on the screen? I'm pretty sure there's only a few of those screens that actually work. The whole place didn't look to be in that great of shape, and who knows how long it's been since the RCA repairman came through. To see what's coming in on the other feeds, the cables have to be physically unplugged and replugged--from broken monitors to working ones.
But, oh, what we saw when the feed worked! There's someone else out there and he's only got one eye! Could he be the one controlling the Black Smoke? Or is he one of The Others? Or is he "just" another castaway? That should be interesting, especially since he knows there's other people coming to meet him.
And speaking of The Others. Even with Juliette being all open and honest with Jack about how nasty and evil Ben is, I still don't trust her. She comes across as way too cold-blooded and manipulative when dealing with other people for me to trust her. Does she want Ben gone? Sure. Is there a division of purpose in the Others? Without a doubt. But is she really manipulating Jack any less than Ben was? Hell no. Is Ben in on her manipulations? Probably not... and boy, will he be surprised.
So this week is the end of the first "chapter" of this season. I expect to see some very impressive revelations and some very stressful situations. I'm thinking Jack's going to end up staying with The Others and, maybe, we'll see Michael and Walt show back up.
Oh, and for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, it seems like the actor who played Eko--and therefore the character--never planned on being around for more than a season. Read that article here.
I like having Locke in charge. He seems past his old sneaking around ways--probably because he's in charge and not trying to subvert Jack's power structure--and is back to being his optimistic confident self. His thoughts to go back to The Pearl station and fiddle with the TVs are long over-due, but understandable--what with the whole being blown up and fighting polar bears and stuff.
Eko, who will be greatly missed, had a good end. It was his time. He knew it and the Black Smoke apparently knew it, too. Why it didn't take him the first time he faced and why it smacked him around like a rag-doll this time are very open to theory and interpretation. Maybe it was waiting for him to decide what kind of man he was (a good man or a bad man). Maybe it was just toying with him anyway. Personally, I'm going for the former. When he first faced off with the smoke, he was still quite conflicted about his own life. Sure, he had done horrible things, but he had done them to spare others the taint of that lifestyle. In the end, he accepted that he was not sorry for anything he had done. He believed that he was in the right, no matter how wrong that made him. The Black Smoke? It didn't seem to agree.
One of the most mysterious lines came from the on island exchange between Eko and the form he thought was his brother. As the discussion progressed, it said to him "You talk to me like I'm actually your brother." This begs the question: If it's not a hallucination, then what is it that Eko's seeing? And what does that mean for all the other hallucinations people have had? (Jack's father, Hurley's imaginary friend, etc.) What if it's all part of the security system--if it actually is a security system and not just another testing device.
One of the other questions I've seen come up deals with the goings on in The Pearl hatch. Why, I've seen people ask, did Sayid have to poke around the innards of the machines there to get different pictures on the screen? I'm pretty sure there's only a few of those screens that actually work. The whole place didn't look to be in that great of shape, and who knows how long it's been since the RCA repairman came through. To see what's coming in on the other feeds, the cables have to be physically unplugged and replugged--from broken monitors to working ones.
But, oh, what we saw when the feed worked! There's someone else out there and he's only got one eye! Could he be the one controlling the Black Smoke? Or is he one of The Others? Or is he "just" another castaway? That should be interesting, especially since he knows there's other people coming to meet him.
And speaking of The Others. Even with Juliette being all open and honest with Jack about how nasty and evil Ben is, I still don't trust her. She comes across as way too cold-blooded and manipulative when dealing with other people for me to trust her. Does she want Ben gone? Sure. Is there a division of purpose in the Others? Without a doubt. But is she really manipulating Jack any less than Ben was? Hell no. Is Ben in on her manipulations? Probably not... and boy, will he be surprised.
So this week is the end of the first "chapter" of this season. I expect to see some very impressive revelations and some very stressful situations. I'm thinking Jack's going to end up staying with The Others and, maybe, we'll see Michael and Walt show back up.
Oh, and for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, it seems like the actor who played Eko--and therefore the character--never planned on being around for more than a season. Read that article here.